Hyphen Shards: Phantom Feelings
by TypicalHyphen24
Summary: Danny Phantom one-shots. These will be one-shots I created while in the midst of writing other stories. The plot bunny always attacks, so I figured I may use it to my advantage. Enjoy
1. Girl Behind The Counter

**This will be the first installment of the one-shot collections I have dubbed "Hyphen Shards". This will be the general name for one-shot collections, followed by a unique identifier based on the category I am writing. If at any time there is a pairing you would like to see pm me, or leave it in the reviews. Now then, legi sur.**

 **(Nasty Burger)**

Nasty Burger was buzzing as usual, being the natural hangout hotspot for the teenage generation of Amity Park, excluding the throngs of families, adults, and kids that come everyday as well. The employees were doing their best to keep up with the orders of their customers, it was just one of those unusually busy days that they have, it didn't help that they had a new recruit fresh out of training manning the cash register. Though for now she seemed to be holding her own.

The employee in question was a teenage girl seeming to be around 15 years old. She had skin that was almost as white as fresh fallen snow, eyes as blue as glacial water hidden under the visor of her Nasty Cap, and a smile that just made you melt. Elsa Summers was currently a sophomore at Casper High working part-time at Nasty Burger. If anyone were to ask why she would be working instead of hanging out with friends she would respond by saying it was to assert her independence and get an early start with putting herself out there in the world. However the truth of the matter was she didn't exactly have any social circles, or even lines, that she was a part of.

It wasn't that she was antisocial, she was actually somewhat new to the town. She had transferred in two months late into the school year, and that was already a month ago. By the time she had gotten there everybody had their clique, club, or some other social grouping in place, newcomers weren't exactly accepted warmly. She had been lucky enough to get a part-time job here, though to be honest it seemed that they would have accepted anyone who showed interest. The cover gave her an excuse to get her parents off her back about hanging out with people her age, as much as she would have loved to.

She looked around the fast food joint spotting other teens from her school. At a booth and conjoined table were the so-called A-listers, she would fit right in with her looks, but they were nothing but a bunch of bullies, especially those freshmen Paulina Sanchez and Dash Baxter. At another table were a group of nerds playing some sort of card game, causing a general mess with their food. There were a number of other groups: band, punks, goths, skaters and just more groups of teens. There was maybe a family or two there, she offhandedly thought what her little sister, Anna, was doing right now. The entrance door opened, the bell above jingling, indicating a new customer, or customers it would seem. Elsa pulled her attention to the new group of teens that came in.

"Man it's been a while since we've been here." She overheard the teen on the left say.

The one to the left was an African American with a red cap, glasses, yellow long sleeve, green cargo pants, and brown boots. The one to the right was a girl in mostly black, a goth. She had dark hair with an upward ponytail, purple make up, a black tank top, black plaid skirt, and black combat boots. Finally in the middle was a boy, an ordinary looking one. He had long jet black hair that hung out over his face instead of hanging on it. He had baby blue eyes, a white T-shirt with rid rims on the sleeves and red oval on the chest, a pair of baggy blue jeans, and some worn red sneakers. Elsa heard snickering from the group of A-listers and saw them pointing at the trio that had just walked in. She deducted that this was the infamous group dubbed 'the freaks' by the A-listers, judging by the attitude toward them. Even the other groups seemed to join in the joke or just completely ignore the trio. 'God what a bunch of arrogant pricks.' Elsa fumed, she really hated people like that.

"Hello ready to order here!" The goth snapped her fingers in front of Elsa's face to grab her attention.

Elsa focused on Sam a slight blush of embarrassment on her face, "Oh excuse me. Welcome to Nasty Burger. Nasty only one letter away from tasty, how can I be of service today?" She said as she was trained to.

"I'd like the All-Veggie Burger with a side of organic fries and a medium water." The goth ordered.

Elsa punched it in, "Anything else?"

"Yeah I'll have two number fives, a number one, three orders of nasty fries, and an extra large Peksi." The African American boy ordered.

Elsa was slightly shocked at the size of the order but punched it in, "Anything else?" She said as she looked at the raven haired teen.

He was too busy looking up at the menu above her that he probably didn't hear her.

"Danny you gonna order or what?" The goth girl said.

Danny tapped his chin a few times then spoke up, " yeah I'll take a number two with... a..." Danny stopped speaking as he had turned his attention to the girl behind the counter. He stood still his gaze fixed on her and his face slightly red. He stuck his hand out, "Hi I'm Danny." He said in an almost trance like state.

Elsa giggled, this was a first for her, but it was kinda funny. "Hi Danny, I'm Elsa." She said as she shook his hand, it was incredibly cold. 'Is that normal?' She thought.

Danny must have realized the effect his hand was emitting so he pulled it back, face growing a bit redder. "So yeah, a number two side of fries and a medium sized drink." He rushed and then took off to find a seat.

Elsa just giggled at his actions and punched in his order, "He's a funny guy. Will that complete your order?" She asked.

The goth girl and geek kid were looking at their friend at a booth face against the table when she spoke, bringing their attention back to her.

"Um yeah, I guess so... You look familiar, do you go to Casper?" The goth girl asked.

"Yeah I'm a sophomore." Elsa answered as she rung up the total. The goth girl payed for it, and the two went off to join Danny at the booth.

Elsa just looked at the two but more at Danny. 'He's pretty cute too." She thought with a smile on her face. The door jingled indicating her next walked the most popular A-lister of them all, Dash Baxter. The jerk of a jock cockily walked over to the counter and placed an order for the Nasty Surprise Special. He then walked over to his group's table, but not before stopping by the 'Freak Trio' table first.

"Well, well, if it isn't Fenton and his freak posse." Dash jeered.

"Go away Dash, I'm in no mood to deal with you today." Danny glowered at the towering jock with disdain.

Dash reached over and grabbed Danny by his overhanging hair, "I'll go when I damn well please, not when a loser like you tells me." He reached across the table and grabbed the ketchup and mustard bottles in one of his massive meat hunks, brought it towards Danny's face and squeezed. The mustard and ketchup squirted out and splashed Danny all over his face dripping down and standing his shirt and jeans. Satisfied with his work Dash released Danny and threw the empty bottles onto the table, "Now I'll go."

Everybody was silent for a whole two seconds and then the restaurant burst into laughter the loudest being the A-listers, bunch of jerks, even a few of the adults were laughing at the teens misfortune. The only ones not laughing were the victim, Danny, Tucker and Sam, and the girl behind the counter, Elsa. Needless to say Elsa was angered at the display that just befell her eyes, and she wasn't letting it slide.

"He wants a surprise right? Well I think he deserves a surprise." Elsa said darkly. She went into the back and pulled some nasty grime from the garbage, ' _remember to wash hands with steel wool'_ she half joked. She spotted the jocks order being prepared on the line, when the line cook preparing the special had to retrieve some more ingredients, Elsa moved in. She smeared the gunk on the underside on the top bun and the topside of the bottom bun and covered it so the cook wouldn't notice.

She discreetly made her way back to the counter, where luckily no other customer was waiting, and acted like she didn't just do something that could get her fired. Two trays of food were placed on the counter by one of the other workers before they went back to work. Elsa was about to announce that Danny's and his friends food was ready before Danny looked at her. She could see how embarrassed he was that it just happened and he just looked more embarassed when he saw her look at him. She gave him a sympathetic smile and motioned him on over.

Danny looked at her and all around behind him to see if she was calling for somebody else. Not seeing anybody looking in her direction he turned back to her and pointed at himself, the universal questioning sign for, _'me?_ ' Elsa just gave him a flashing smile and nodded, motioning at him to come over again. Danny got up and made his way on over to the her at the counter.

"Here you go Danny, your order is ready." Elsa pushed the food trays at him.

"Er, thanks Elsa." Danny acknowledged.

Danny reached for the trays, but as he clasped onto the trays Elsa put her hand on top of his. Danny blushed and looked up at Elsa who was also blushing a bit.

"Sorry you had to go throught that."

"Oh yeah that. I'm pretty much used to it, besides it's not like I can really fight back."

Elsa just frowned and gave him a concerned look, "Don't worry Danny, he'll get what's coming to him soon enough. Just wait and see, it'll be a 'surprise'." She grinned mischievously and let Danny's hand go.

Danny gave her a confused as he picked up his trays and took them back to his table. As soon as he set them down Tucker grabbed his hand and flipped it over twice looking for something.

"What are you doing Tucker?" He asked his techie friend.

"Looking to see if she wrote her number on your hand." Tucker said. He let it go when it was evident that there was nothing written on it. "Weak game Danny." He said in disappointed tone. Danny just rolled his eyes.

"So what were you two lovebirds discussing?" Sam teased.

Danny reddened at what she was insinuating, "Nothing. She just said she was sorry I had to go through that."

"Oh? Well that was nice of her. You scored some sympathy points with her, a few more maybe she'll take you on a pity date." Tucker joked, receiving an elbow in the ribs from Sam and a kick in the shin from Danny.

"Ow! Ah! What's with the violence? I was just joking!" Tucker cried out.

Danny gave him a hard look before continuing, "She also said Dash will get his soon, that it will be a 'surprise'." He said, air quoting surprise.

"What do you think she meant by that?" Sam asked. Danny just shrugged in unsureness.

Then as if on cue Elsa spoke over the P.A. system, "Table 8 your Surprise is ready. Table 8 your Surprise is ready." She said throwing a wink Danny's way.

Danny caught the wink and although it made him blush it also revealed what she meant. "Guys I think I know what she meant." He said as Dash retrieved his meal.

Danny's gaze followed him back to the table, his friends following his gaze. Danny took a look back at Elsa and noticed she also was watching with a smirk. He turned his attention back to Dash who was unwrapping his 'Nasty Surprise', oblivious to what was about to happen.

"Danny you mean she...?" Sam asked leaving the question hanging in the air. Danny just nodded keeping his eyes on the jock.

Dash took a bit out of his burger and chewed it a bit, then he got a weird look on his face. That look soon turned into a frown, then one of disgust, and finally his cheeks puffed up with, what Danny assumed was, vomit. The rest of the popular kids stopped jabbering as they noticed Dash's face, his eyes were tering up as he was stricken to the spot from the taste in his mouth.

"Hey are you-" Paulina started but never finished as Dash projectile vomited on her, some getting in her mouth, then doused her with a stream of vomit that died down on the table.

Paulina just sat there frozen her mouth still open the whole restraunt went silent once again as they took notice of what had happened. Then they all started laughing, save for the popular group that was scrambling to get out of the vicinity of the mess. Paulina was horror struck as she got up screaming and crying running out of the restaurant. A few other of the surrounding pops had gotten splashed with the gastrointestinal fluid as well and were either trying to wipe it off of them, or just wailing in disgust that it was on them.

Danny, Sam, and Tucker were in their booths howling up a storm at the incident. Sure they felt bad for them, but nowhere near as much as they felt they desrved it. Danny had been thrown in the dumpster one too many times to let any guilt wash over him for laughing at their misfortune. He looked at Elsa who was laughing behind her hand at the display, she looked at him as well and gave him a thumbs up, Danny reciprocated the gesture. Unbeknownst to the two of them, someone else saw the transaction and that someone was looking for a little revenge.

 **(Nasty Burger After Hours, Closing Time)**

Elsa had been put in charge of clean up and was just finishing up. Due to her little payback earlier she was ordered to triple clean the area vomited on, her manager didn't know it was her she was just the poor unfortunate soul tasked with the job. She sighed as she finished drying the place down, it was a little more laborious but well worth it for what he did to Danny. After the whole thing Elsa wondered why she had risked her job for a guy she had barely even known, much less seen. She heard a lot of rumors surrounding the group, but she never actually believed the rumors since most were started by A-listers. She thought back on to how Danny said he was used to it, and a flash of anger flashed across her face. How could the poor boy be used to the public humiliation, not to mention the beatings she knew he got, if Dash was his tormentor.

She tried to think back to any signs that would indicate any type of beating, but all she could think of were those deep azure blue eyes, like they were as endless as the clear shy above. She gave a soft sigh at the thought, and now knew why she had done what she did.

She liked him. Like...liked him liked him.

And if his reactions earlier were a give away he knew he liked her as well. She giggled at the thought of him when he introduced himself. A dork, yes, but a cute one. She put away the cleaning supplies in the janitorial closet in the back, and went around the restaurant to make sure all the exits were closed and locked. Once she did she made her way to the employee entrance around back to finish locking up for the night. As soon as the lock clicked she heard another sound, the sound of a sneaker crunching on the pavement. She turned around to find a hulking figure right behind her, the dim lighting and cloud covering the moon making his face obscured. She backed against the door in fear, her knees shaking in fear.

"What do you want?" Elsa asked, the fear evident in her voice.

"Payback, for what you did to me earlier." The figure said, anger in his voice, as he smacked a fist into a cupped palm, making a loud smacking sound.

Elsa cringed at the sound, but grew even more frightened when she realized who it was threatening her. Dash Baxter, and he was royally pissed off.

"It was you that messed with my order wasn't it? You and that little Fentoad?" Dash accused. Elsa couldn't say anything, she was too scared. "I know it was you! I saw that little message you two gave each other earlier, and once I'm finished with you, he's next!" Dash said in absolute rage.

He started moving toward Elsa, hand outstretched to grab her shirt. All Elsa could do now was wait, and possibly one other thing.

"HELP! SOMEONE! ANYONE! PLEASE!" She shouted, hoping her call for help would be answered.

"Good luck, my boys have the entire area blocked off. Nobody's coming to save you." Dash smugly jeered. Dash was about to manhandle her when he felt somebody tap his shoulder.

"I don't think that's entirely true." A new voice said.

Dash was surprised someone was behind him, and when he turned to see who it was he was greeted with a wallop to the face. All the Dash managed to get out was a "GUH!" and a tooth that flew out of his mouth as well. He then crumpled on down to the floor from the force of the blow. Before he fainted entirely, he could've sworn the person that knocked him out was Fenton, then he fainted.

Elsa had closed her eyes when he was moving in and only heard a new voice say ' I don't think that's entirely true' before a loud smack was heard followed by a thud. She cautiously opened one of her eyes to see the figure of Dash was replaced with a different one, the cloud's moving out of the path of the moon revealed it to be one she much more preferred.

"DANNY!" She screamed ecstatically.

She rushed to hug him but tripped over the now unconscious form of Dash, and was on a crash course for the ground, but she never hit it. Danny had moved in and caught her and she was now leaning across his chest while he held her by the waist. She looked up at him and noticed the way his eyes shone in the moonlight.

"Whoa, careful. That first step is always tricky." Danny joked, but concern was on his face. "You ok Elsa?"

"I- I'm fine. What are you doing here?" Elsa wondered, curious why he was out so late.

"Oh I uh, seem to have lost my wallet. You didn't find it by any chance?" Danny asked her.

"I did. I would have returned it, but I didn't know where you lived, so I was just going to give it back to you at school tomorrow."

"Oh well thank you."

The two were still in the position of Danny holding her and Elsa just leaning against his firm chest, but neither wanted to move and break apart. However, a shift from the downed jock made them think they should take this elsewhere.

"Come on, I'll walk you home. That is if you don't mind." Danny said suddenly nervous.

"No, not at all." Elsa said now flustered as well.

The two made their way towards Elsa's house, steering clear of the jock patrol crawling around the area. The walk to Elsa's house was filled with conversation between the two, finding they had things in common, and things about the other that they were curious to find out about. Danny shared a story or two about the crazy things his friends did, minus the being a half-ghost, which Elsa found funny. Soon they had arrived at Elsa's house, and they had stopped at the stairs leading up to the doorway.

"Oh, here before I forget." Elsa remembered, pulling Danny's wallet out of her purse and handing it over to him.

"Oh, thanks, you really helped me out." Danny thanked accepting his wallet back.

"No, you really helped me out. I owe you one."

Danny seeing an opportunity decided to go for broke, "Then how about a date?"

"Huh?" Elsa was thrown for a loop and wasn't sure she heard him right.

"A date, you and me, Saturday at seven." Danny said confidence in his voice.

Elsa was stunned for a second, before she grew a smile. She walked over to Danny and pecked him on the cheek, surprising the boy. "It's a date then." She said , then walked up the steps. Danny was just looking at her with a smile, covering the spot where she kissed him.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Danny." Elsa said as she closed the door behind her. She could hear him hooping and hollering behind the door and giggled at what a dork he was, but it was a dork she liked.

 **Hyphen Note: And there is the first one, thoughts anyone? I shall make more.**

 **-Tia estas la vivo**


	2. Tattoos Are Amazing

**Danny x Lydia (this is less of a pairing than Danny x Kitty, so sad ;'( )**

 **After the incident with the Reality Gauntlet, Lydia seemed to no longer be under any influence of Freakshow. The only problem now was she followed Danny wherever he went now, she even enrolled in school with him. How will things turn out with our hero and his new companion? (Kinda think you know already though ;D)**

* * *

"~mmmmnh~" Danny mumbled as he was waking from his sleep. He turned from one side to the other throwing his arm over in the process. He grabbed onto something and when he squeezed it was soft and firm, in his mostly asleep state he figured he was holding onto his other pillow. It was only when the 'pillow' started moving and he felt a hand upon his did he fully register what he was grabbing.

He never woke up and got out of bed faster.

There lying in the, supposed to be, empty space of his bed was an old enemy of his, but new friend now, Lydia. Ever since destroying the Reality Gauntlet she started hanging around him, Danny didn't know why. When she first started Danny was surprised thinking she was looking for a fight, but she didn't do anything when he attacked except block and dodge. Soon after that Danny would find her following him from a distance, a ghost stalker, just what he needed.

Danny had confronted her shortly after that asking what she wanted, but was met with only silence. She was mute. Danny also suggested to her to stop following him from a distance, she didn't quite get the message. The next morning was the first time Danny had to deal with the situation he currently found himself in, she took his advice and started hanging by his side instead of his back. Her hair was no longer in spikes, instead falling down to just past her shoulders. Her cloak replaced by a red hoodie of the same color, and black jeans for her lower half.

She turned noticing the missing source of warmth missing. She looked at the empty spot in the bed, and then on over to the opposite side of the room where Danny was heavily breathing. She gave him a look that said _'What's the matter Danny?'_ With her now normal eyes. They were no longer full on red, but had turned into a regular eyes with dark brown irises, small flecks of red still visible.

"What do you mean what's the matter?" Danny had been able to pick up on her expressions and body language, for some reason he was the only one. "You were in my bed. Again. And then I... I..." Danny's face grew as red as a cherry.

Lydia tilted her head to the side, Danny found it cute and somehow grew redder. Lydia felt a small warm sensation on her body. When she realized where it was she blushed as well. When Danny saw that he started creating new shades of red. He looked all over the room, everywhere except at Lydia and her reddened face. This actually was the first time, in the two months she started dong this, it has happened when she slept over. Danny slowly started making his eyes shift to Lydia. When he finally built up enough courage he looked at her.

"Look Lydia... I-"

"Danny are you up yet?!" Jazz yelled, pounding on his door and scaring the living half life out of him. "Gaaahhh!"

"Yeah Jazz, geez give me a heart attack why don't you?" Danny said grabbing his chest, breathing heavy again.

"Just checking mom has breakfast done already. She wanted me to come get you."

"Ok, thanks and thanks for the scare." Danny replied.

After a few seconds Jazz talked again in a quieter voice, "Hey did Lydia stop by again?"

"Yeah she gave me a scare this morning too."

"Okay just make sure that mom and dad don't see her or... gotta go dad's coming."

Sure enough loud reverberating steps started pounding closer to the door before stopping.

"Shit hide!" He hissed at Lydia, she complied turning invisible just in the nick of time.

Jack shoved open the door without even touching the handle or even damaging the lock, "Danny boy have you seen my razor? I need to shave my legs." His hairy legs in full view as he was in nothing but a short towel and shower cap holding a rubber duck he called Cpt. Quackers, as it had a captains hat.

"No dad, and please invest in a longer towel. I don't want to have to deal with therapy when I'm older."

"Haha Danny my boy, one day you may have legs like your old man as well."

Danny paled, "I really hope it doesn't come to that."

"Well whatever, if you remember where it's at let me know. Hm? You should really stop sleeping with a stiff blanket I can see where you were sleeping." He pointed to his bed before going down the hall, "MADDIE HAVE YOU SEEN MY RAZOR?" He yelled on his way down the stairs.

Danny sighed and looked at where his dad was pointing, sure enough the blankets outlined a body. Good thing his father didn't get a good look, or he might have seen the outline was female in nature.

"Lydia!" Danny groaned.

Lydia materialized underneath the blanket a sheepish look that said _'I'm sorry.'_ Danny just pinched the bridge of his nose, cupping his elbow with his other hand. _'I really hope the rest of the day goes smoother.'_ Danny thought, hoping his Fenton luck wouldn't affect him today.

* * *

Danny was walking to school while Lydia was hanging onto his arm, and Sam and Tucker walked behind them. This had become a very normal sight, and as long as Lydia didn't try to use any powers nobody actually thought she was a ghost. Morons.

"So Lydia did you sneak in with Danny again?" Sam teased. Both friends had accepted her in the group seeing as she wasn't under Freakshow's control, and they also accepted how she felt towards Danny.

Danny's face grew red at the mention of finding her in his bed that morning, but he kept looking forward so his friends didn't notice. Lydia had turned around and gave her a nod and smile, although she was slightly blushing herself. Sam and Tucker both gave her a weird look, but she had turned around so she didn't notice.

"So Danny," Tucker asked moving forward and draping his arm over his friend, "when you going to take her on a date?" He pestered, pointing at Lydia. Lydia blushed at the comment, but Danny didn't notice as he was looking at his friend with slight annoyance.

"Cut it out Tuck. Leave the two alone won't you? If Danny wants to ask her out, then let him do it on his own, not when you have to ask!" Sam scolded, grabbing his shirt and pulling him back.

"Can you believe this guy Lydia?" Danny asked. "Like you would like to go on a date with me? What a riot."

Danny craned his head to get a look at Lydia's expression, as she couldn't verbally voice her opinion. What he saw was a normally green ghost turned a hot red from embarrassment.

"Hey, uh Lydia, you ok there? You look warm. Can ghosts get sick?" He wondered aloud, earning facepalms from Sam and Tucker.

He placed his hand upon Lydia's head which only further increased her redness. Unable to take anymore of it Lydia made a hasty exit, using her powers to summon her tattoo whirlwind to warp away from the current situation.

"And you scared her off Danny, now how are you going to ask her out? Oof!" The last part was courtesy of Sam elbowing him in the stomach, making Tucker double over and clutch his stomach. "Hurp! I think my morning burger is going to make a reappearance."

Sam recoiled back in fear of seeing the regurgitated meat, while Danny just looked at the empty space of where Lydia was standing oblivious to his friend's upchuk warning.

"BLERGH!" Tucker had thrown up his breakfast and it splattered on the pavement some had splashed onto Danny's sneakers which the halfa didn't even notice until Sam pointed it out.

"Ew Tuck you threw up on Danny's shoes!"

This snapped Danny out of his stupor as he looked down to find his barf muddled shoes, his face contorting into one of disgust.

"Ew Tuck, what'd you do that for?! Well no worries." Danny said as he made his lower half intangible allowing for the barf to fall to the floor. Danny walked a few steps away before he was sure that there wasn't a chance of getting it on himself. "Let's get going before somebody notices this mess."

Tucker slowly got back up to his feet, making sure not to stain his clothes with any barf, "Can we grab a bite to eat first? I'm really hungry now." Sam and Danny just looked to the heavens and continued walking to school. "So is that a yes or no?" Tuck called after them.

* * *

Using her teleportation power Lydia ended up on the roof of the school, which was empty as nobody but staff was allowed up there. She leaned on the roof of the school as she watched the crowds of students come towards the school and be enveloped by the wall below her. She let her mind drift to the day she was finally released by Freakshow's control. The little creep was somehow able to use the power source gem of the Reality Gauntlet to enslave her and keep her subservient to him, all the while she was able to perceive everything she did without being able to do anything about it. The day Danny destroyed the Reality Gauntlet was the day she got control of herself again, she was finally free. She immediately went to find Danny and thank him, but when she found him she suddenly was nervous about it. She smiled as she knew now what she didn't know then, on that day she was under a different spell, she fell for Danny at first sight.

Sure she saw the hero when she was being controlled, but most of her attention was trying to free herself from Freakshow's control, with little luck. But that day she saw him it was instant, those long raven locks, those endless blue eyes, that lopsided grin, every small detail about him she fell for. Since she started hanging with him he's treated her like a normal human, or ghost actually, instead of just a tool. It wasn't just a case of Hero Worship, she really liked him.

And this morning Tucker just had to open his big mouth.

Lydia buried her head in her hands as she recollected the scene from a few moments ago, Tucker embarrassed her so badly. She was sure going to give him an ecto ray to his backside the next time she saw him.

Now what was she going to do the next time she saw Danny?

She knew he was a bit dense when it came to people being romantically interested in him, but now he probably has a nagging feeling that Tucker might be on to something. She worried that if he found out that maybe he'd want her to leave, she wouldn't want that. She let out a sigh, as she knew worrying on the negative would only lead to worse-case scenarios, and then she'd really begin to freak. She looked out at the trickle of kids now coming to the school, and coming into view was Danny, Sam, and Tucker. Her stomach did a small flop and filled with butterflies at the sight of him, a feeling that happened whenever saw him.

She steeled her nerves. Maybe Tucker blathering his mouth was a blessing in disguise, maybe it was a sign for her to show him how she felt. If she didn't do it now someone else may snatch him up and she would've missed her chance by then. She turned invisible and flew toward a tree nearby Danny, where she landed and turned visible, waiting for him to come by. Hopefully her nerves lasted that long.

* * *

Danny was riding aboard a train of thought since Lydia teleported away from them. Now that he thought about it Lydia could've been blushing from embarrassment due to Tucker's words. But what would she have to get embarrassed about? She didn't like him... did she? Now the train was picking up speed as he thought back on anything that could indicate Lydia liking him. The train rattled as it pulled his mind to every thought concerning Lydia, every moment she was with him, every look she gave him, every action she did while she was around him, every detail it could muster. That's when it hit Danny like, well... a train. Everything she did was her showing him affection, she had a major crush on him and he was totally oblivious this whole time. He facepalmed himself, earning questioning looks from his friends, but he just ignored them as he was still in a myriad of thoughts.

He now knows that Lydia is majorly crushing on him, so what does he do now? He wouldn't want to push her away, as much as he was weirded out by the fact he was hanging out with a former enemy before, he was very comfortable with her around now. Did she plan on telling, or in her case showing, him that she liked him? What would he do then?

Danny stumbled in his thoughts when that question popped up, what would he do if she did? Danny tried to think of an answer when Lydia had slipped into view from behind a tree, stopping Danny in his tracks.

"Hey Lydia, where'd y-" Danny was interrupted by Lydia suddenly crashing her lips into his, effectively frying his brain, preventing him from forming any thought or ability to speak.

Sam and Tucker were shocked for a second but smiled, both thinking _'finally'_ , when she kissed him.

With Danny's brain effectively shut off the only other organ able to make any decision, his heart, and it knew how Danny truly felt towards Lydia. While he stiffened at the initial meeting of their lips he slowly relaxed, lifting his hands and wrapping them around her hips. Lydia frightened that her action might have scared Danny away, was pleasantly surprised when she felt his hands wrap around her waist. She smiled into the kiss and kissed him even more, this time Danny kissed back. Filling his kiss with passion towards the tattooed ghost he trailed her hands up and down her spine, sending pleasurable shivers throughout her body. She wrapped her hands tightly into his ebony locks as she tried to deepen the kiss further, but alas Danny was still human the need for oxygen was burning his lungs so he had to pull away. He was breathing heavy with a dopey grin, while they both eyes looked glazed over, and their faces were a matching red tint. No longer under attack his brain slowly started to work again, and he muttered his first word.

"Wow."

Lydia smirked at him and was surprised he planted a softer and quicker kiss on her lips before he pulled back and grinned, "Guess this means I have to take you on that date now don't I?"

Lydia smiled even wider as she laced her slender fingers into his larger ones, nodding her head in approval.

"Well come on, let's school over with. The faster we do the sooner we can go on that date." He grinned. Lydia just smiled and led him to the school entrance, Sam and Tucker following behind.

"C'mon pay up. I bet she would make the first move." Tucker whispered.

Sam scowled and handed Tucker a fifty dollar bill, "Should have known better than to put my money on the longshot.

* * *

Danny woke up the next morning a small smile gracing his face as he remembered the date he and Lydia went on after school yesterday. Even without much in the way of conversation he got to know her even better. The date was a blast. He rolled over and his arm draped over something, he lowered his hand, his half-awake brain trying to figure out what it was until he found something firm yet springy. He felt something press against his lips before he felt breathing next to his ear.

"Good Morning to you too Danny."

* * *

 **Like it? Love it? Hate it? Let me know what you think.**


	3. Midnight Assassin

She scoffed when they approached her with the mission. She chuckled and scoffed when they said everyone else failed. She ignored them when they told her to be wary of her target. She was in this for the money, and the bragging rights over everyone else who had failed.

Katarina was on top of a guard tower overseeing the small village of Amity where her target was located, the sentries posted there knocked out cold due to some sleeping gas she used on them. Some big wigs from a renowned agency offered her a hefty reward if she could eliminate an individual who had been a thorn in their sides for quite a while. When they told her about her target she laughed at them when they said this one individual he had been their main concern for the past five years and he was barely twenty one now, a few years her junior. Well until she made sure he never reached another birthday.

Her target was a young man named Daniel Fenton. From what she had been told by the men at the G.I.W. Agency, her employers, he was a pretty regular guy. He went to work as a baker, had a few amicable friends, no family to speak of, and he was a pretty straight and narrow guy. Yet he somehow always managed to sneak into their facilities and retrieve top secret hush-hush company secrets of the illegal variety. He has managed to slander their name a bit, but their under the table dealings with those in government and news coverage positions had made it possible for them to still be in business.

Recently he managed to get in the HQ of their operations and steal some of the worst company secrets and illegal project plans from them. Katarina had been told she wasn't on the need to know side of what he took, just the side that ensured he wasn't able to bring it to the light of day. She wondered how good this guy was if they had to hire her, after about ten others that failed. Honestly, it hurt a bit she wasn't their first, second, third, or fourth choice. Contrary to what they believed it seemed like the guy was far from average.

She jumped from the tower, landing on a nearby rooftop with little more than a thud to indicate her landing. She blew out that stray bang that always found its way in front of her right eye. She thought of cutting it, but she really found no reason, plus she was fond of twirling it in between her fingers in her free time. She raced over the rooftops at a steady pace while staying fleet footed, barely letting any dust fall from the ceilings of the inside of the abodes. Her target was near the center of the town living above the bakery he worked at.

She stopped on a three story building, directly across from the bakery in the shadow of the roof top access doorway. She looked down at street level to see the bakery light was off, but in a window situated above the bakery a light flickered on in the room, allowing for a fish bowl effect to help provide cover for Katarina. She looked through the open window to find it held just about the basic essentials a person would need and an occupant.

Her eyes zeroed in on her target: Daniel Fenton. He was sitting at the desk writing down in a journal with intense concentration on his face. Katarina was a little curious as to what was in there, but for now the mark came first. After a while Danny put his pen down, closed the journal, and got up. Katarina figured he'd turn off the light, but what he did was strip down all the way to his boxer briefs. She was used to seeing near naked men from fights, some humiliated for wandering hands, a few times to lull her marks into a defenseless state, but the innocence he seemed to have as he stretched the upper torso muscles he had from kneading dough made her turn away for a second in a slightly flustered state.

'Never let passion interfere with duty.' She repeated her mantra as she turned back.

Danny wasn't in view from her vantage point anymore, but the light flicked off so she assumed he was going to bed. She would wait for him to fall asleep and pull off a sandman kill. Less noise, less chance of being noticed. She waited for nearly an hour before she emerged out of the shadow of the brick wall and effortlessly jumped from the roof, across the street, to the still open window a floor below.

'Careless idiot. He knows he's targeted right? Well he's managed to stay alive this long, so I shouldn't underestimate him.' She cautioned herself. She scanned the room to see Daniel under his covers and smirked.

She leaned forward a bit in the window sill only for it to creak under the shift in weight. She winced and waited for any sound to indicate she was detected. Danny kept snoring the whole time, a kind of soft snore despite his stature. Katarina let out a silent breath, chastised herself, and jumped silent as a cat and landed on the floor. No creak this time. She withdrew her blade as she approached his bed. She covered his mouth firmly and slit his throat. Danny's eyes popped open suddenly, but fluttered closed right away when she plunged the blade through his heart.

She took her hand off his mouth and wiped the blade on his sheets, to get rid of the oxidized blood. Satisfied with her work she moved on to her secondary objective of finding the stolen files. She surveyed the simple room wondering just where a baker/master thief would hide top secret documents. Her eyes drifted until they landed on the journal he was writing in, alight in the invading moonlight. She strode over to the journal and opened the notebook, most of the entries mundane everyday things, a few notes on how to improve his bread here and there, and a few personal thoughts. She got to the last page he was writing in before she killed him and there were only scribbles surrounding a few words.

~~~~~~~~ Gonna~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~Have to try harder~~~~~~~

~~~~Than that beautiful.~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~xoxo Danny~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~P.S. Wanna go out?~~~~~~

Katarina dropped the journal and whipped around, simultaneously drawing both blades this time. Danny was still lying motionless in his bed. Was it just him trying to mess with her after death? She went to lean over Danny and inspected him for any sign of life, but didn't find any. She lightly chuckled at the guys sense of humor, writing her a message right before-

Wait...

He saw her. He knew she was there. Yet he just lied down and went to sleep knowing she was there to kill him. Suddenly everything felt off with the whole situation, alarms going off in her head. When she looked back at him she didn't see nothing. She unconsciously tilted her blades and one caught the moonlight to reflect off of it, catching her attention. That's when she saw it. The light casted by the blade she used to end him highlighted the section of his blanket she used to clean it with. It wasn't blood red, it had a greenish hue, and it was dissolving away.

She had a mini freak out before looking back at Danny. Only to see him melt away in a pile of green goo, clothes and all, before dissipating. The little freak out she had came back with a vengeance as she started scanning the room for him. Humans, Yordles... whatever else, nothing did that that she knew of.

Not even Zac, he usually stayed dead for a while on the Fields of Justice like everyone else before respawning.

"Your expression is funny and pretty cute when your scared. Liked my decoy there?"

Katarina's skin crawled, she jumped away from the bed so her back was to the window. She peered around the room certain the voice came from the chair that sat alone in the corner, yet nobody was there.

"Where are you?" She called out.

"Sorry didn't mean to frighten you, but for the reactions I got from you I'm kinda glad I did. It's all really cute."

Now she was sure the flirting voice was coming from the chair in the corner. A camera and microphone maybe? She walked over to the chair to find the devices, picking the chair up and turning it on end before setting it back down.

No luck.

She stared down at the seat wondering what was going on.

"Hey my eyes are up here perv."

Katarina looked up to see a pair of floating neon green eyes looking back at her. She let out an uncharacteristically girlish yelp and hurled two throwing knives at them. Of course she initially thought they would hit her target with her uncanny accuracy. Well they did hit their mark, and then harmlessly passed through them to safely embed themselves in the wall behind them.

"Well that was dangerous." The voice sarcastically commented. "I could have gotten hurt ya know? *snort* Yeah right huh?" He joked, laughing a bit to himself.

Katarina held up her blade at the male eyes, even when she had a good bet it was ineffective. It was mostly as comfort, like a security blanket.

"Who... What are you?" She demanded in her coldest voice she had.

"Ooh, shivers. So cold." The voice joked. The two knives in the wall wiggled before they came out and floated in midair. "I believe these are yours, please aim away from people next time." He said as they floated closer to her.

'This guy isn't even taking me seriously!' Katarina thought pissed off quite a bit. She snatched the knives away from the air and put them back in their sheathes while keeping her blade level with the shining eyes.

"And as for who I am, I believe your my newest assassin. I gotta say, your much better looking than the last few that GIW sent. So you got a name?" The floating eyes, now revealed to be Daniel Fenton, conversed.

"You're Daniel Fenton?" Katarina asked confused but with realization in her eyes. "Well this may explain how you were able to slip in and out unnoticed. You seem pretty relaxed about all this too"

"Mmm, partially yes. Your not exactly the first one to try and take me out this month. You learn to take it in stride, especially when you know they can't touch you."

"How is it they didn't have this in your file?" Katarina wondered out loud a bit sourly.

"They have a file on me? That's pretty cool! Super spy status." Danny said not exactly feeling the gravity of the statement, putting his hands together like a gun even though she couldn't see. "And to answer that other question, nobody knows. Not even those other assassins. Surprisingly those GIW bastards let them be, to the best of my knowledge at least. Might be a different story if they paid upfront."

Katarina quirked an eyebrow at that, "And why don't they? Assuming they are still alive from the way you refer to them."

It was at this point that Danny became visible, if see through as well, a full grin on his face. "Simple," he said as his hand glowed and he raised it to her head. "Memory wipe."

Katarina usually is never caught off guard, what with her training and all, but against an invisible opponent pretty much everything is up in the air. She reacted a bit too late to evade the blinding light he unleashed, making her close her eyes and stumble back a bit until the back of her knees hit the window sill. All of a sudden Katarina felt her world flip as she became weightless, she knew she was falling, but she was still a bit to dazed to try and land safely. She accepted this would hurt a bit, probably dislocate her shoulder or something when she landed, but she found herself landing in something hard, but also soft. When her vision cleared she was looking into the twinkling and concerned eyes of Danny as he had caught her in midair. He was slowly floating them back up into his bedroom.

"Hey you alright there? I didn't expect you to fall out the window like that. Good thing I got to you in time before something bad happened." Danny asked and stated full of concern.

Katarina was genuinely touched. "Yeah I'm FINE!" She yelled the last word as she pinned her dagger in Danny's chest while he had his hands full. 'Oh well such a nice guy couldn't last in this world forever. Shame.'

"You know I never did get your name. What is it? Amber? Willow? Koran? Ella?" Danny listed off as he tried to guess her name.

Katarina gave him a puzzled look as she kept looking between him and the blade. He didn't even flinch, or show any signs of discomfort or death. She twisted it in him, but again something was off. He was still talking, not showing any signs of agony. It felt like she was stirring batter. She wasn't hitting any bone even though she pierced his ribcage. The blade jest seemed to be in water because there was no trace of it being turned at all. The initial point of entry was perfectly fine.

"Libby? Delilah? Happy? June? Katie?" Danny continued.

"What?" She responded to the shortened modified version of her name.

"What? It's Katie? Well ok then." Danny beamed having figured it out. "Well Katie even though I saved you from a nasty fall, you kinda stabbed me in the back... well front. So... sorry about this. Maybe we could go on that date sometime. If you ever come around here, not trying to kill me." Danny said as he took his hand out from under her legs and pressed it against her forehead enveloping it in light.

It felt weird for a second, having your mind entered and your memory wiped, then it hurt like a small fire was ignited in your brain as the neurons holding the memories were burned away, then it cooled down to a relaxing feeling as you drifted into unconsciousness.

Danny's frown broke into a small smile as Katarina's twisted face of agony fell and she calmed at his cooling ice touch. She started breathing in shallow breaths signifying that she had passed out. Usually he just let them pass out from the pain, but he didn't have the heart to do it to her. Even if she did try to gouge his out. He laid her down on his bed and took a good look at her for once. She had quite an amazing figure, a lithe frame clad in black leather. She had some generous looking 'assets' that he did his utmost best at not to look at, but a few glances were thrown their way. She had really nice long legs that he wished were wrapped around him, but not if she were trying to kill him again.

She groaned and her face bunched up like she was having a bad dream. Danny moved Katarina's favorite falling piece of hair as he stroked her face and cupped her cheek. She seemed to calm at his touch and she actually nuzzled into his hand. Danny smiled as he stared at her studying the features of her face; the thin eyebrows that have her a serious look, her dark pink lips, the proud chin capping her smooth face. Her eyes slightly fluttered, those emerald eyes that stared at him with such indifference, fear, and gratefulness. Her flawless portrait marred by a single scar ever her left eye, but Danny thought it to be quite sexy. After his observation he pulled the blanket that layed at the edge of the bed and pulled it over his sleeping guest.

"Goodnight Katie." He softly whispered.

He took a seat back in the comfy chair he was waiting in and pulled a spare blanket over him and fell asleep in the chair, dreaming about a redhead.


End file.
